I think we are a bit tired of thinking about hospitals. However, today, we won’t get into what happens in the hospital, we’ll get into how the interior design of a hospital affects its patients and visitors. This is very important because a hospital should keep the people inside calm and collected. Especially the staff since they’re the ones who have to keep a level head. If they’re not level-headed then no one will feel safe in their hands. That’s one of the reasons why interior design is important.
Interior design has always played quite a role in affecting how people feel. Even in people’s homes. How you arrange your couch or where you put cushions can change your interior entirely. It can affect your mood in an entirely different way too. However, know the difference between your home’s interior design and other places’ interior design. This is because not all places are going to have the same type or format of interior design. You would not want to design the inside of where you live to look like the inside of an office or hospital right? Like every human is unique, interior design is unique for every place as well.
You can also create your own design, according to what makes you comfortable and what makes you feel at home. In the context of offices or hospitals, it has to promote a sense of calmness and or a sense that won’t make you feel uncomfortable. So, let’s dive into more of what psychological ties a that are involved in hospital interior design.
Promotes A Sense Of Calmness
One of the main psychological effects that hospitals give to the people in them is a sense of calmness, as mentioned before. This is mainly because of the colour that most hospitals are. Colour affects the mind very strongly. For instance, the colour red heightens blood pressure which, in most cases, we do not want. Thus, some hospitals paint their walls white or light blue. These colours help people feel calm and relaxed which is what we want in terms of a hospital. The colour blue, for instance, lowers blood pressure and that can be very helpful for staff trying to calm patients down. Imagine if the walls of a hospital were painted red, it’d be a little hectic, don’t you think so?
Even if it’s just a waiting room of a hospital, it has to be suitable for the families or friends who are waiting in there. It has to be calming and relaxing as well. One good example of interior designing gone wrong can be seen in one of the episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. This is where they planned to “spruce up” their break room and make it nicer, cleaner and prettier at the same time but what they forgot is that they are in a police precinct and their break room has to be comfortable enough for people to relax in, not to take pretty pictures and sit on uncomfortable but pretty stools. People ended up not relaxing in the break room and they had to reorganize the interior. Always consider who you’re going to be catering to or what mood you want to set for each area.
Makes It Feel Clean
As mentioned before, white promotes peace and calmness. Another important factor that makes white a primary colour for hospitals is that it ensures that the hospital looks clean. Even their walls are either clear or, for privacy reasons, opaque. For instance, in Malaysia, a lot of hospitals would get in touch with a glass partition Kuala Lumpur manufacturer and hire a glasswall specialist in KL and get the best glass walls and make them operable too for smooth operations. Operable glass walls ensure a smooth workflow as well as shows how clean a hospital can be. If a hospital was painted a dark colour, surely we wouldn’t know if it is a clean area or just covered in dirt.
Surely, a hospital has to look clean and actually be clean. Plus, white walls or light coloured walls make it easier to spot dirtiness as well as clean them. This will ensure that a hospital is as clean as it can be to avoid any unwanted sickness or lawsuits.
Gives Off A Safe Feeling
Another important effect that hospital interior designs have on our minds is the fact that it allows us to feel safe. This doesn’t just come from the colour of the walls but as well as the space in the hospital. Hospitals usually have hundreds of people visiting them every day. That’s why hospitals are usually very spacious. Plus, they have to roll beds around so, of course, hallways and elevators have to be spacious enough to accommodate people waiting around and staff pushing beds around. It wouldn’t be peaceful if hospitals were narrow and cramped.
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Hospitals have to have a sense of safety. It has to accommodate so many people, including staff and everyone has to keep a level-headed set of mind. If a hospital was hectic and cramped, it’d be a disadvantage to everyone inside and it’ll leave a sour mood in the air. That is why considering how psychology plays a role in interior designing is important. Visit Nurse Week for more articles like this one!
